Second journalist killed in three days in Uganda

New
York, September 15,
2010--Unidentified assailants beat and killed news presenter Dickson
Ssentongo Monday morning on his way to work at Prime Radio in Mukono district,
central Uganda.
Assailants beat Ssentongo with metal bars and dragged him into a nearby cassava
field, local journalists told CPJ. He was the second journalist murdered in
three days in Uganda.

Ssentongo was attacked at 5 a.m. while trying to catch a bus
in Nantabulirirwa village, 43 miles (70 kilometers) from the Kireka-based Prime
Radio station, News Editor Katongole Kiwanuka told CPJ. He said an unidentified
witness had called the station and described what had happened. A local farmer
found Ssentongo alive at 9 a.m., the Ugandan Human Rights Journalists Network
reported, and he was rushed to MulagoHospital, where he died
several hours later, the network said.

Ssentongo routinely read the 7 a.m. news bulletins for the
Seventh Day Adventist radio station in the Luganda language, Kiwanuka said. He
was also running for a position in the Democratic Party, one of the leading
opposition parties to the ruling National Resistance Movement.

"CPJ sends its condolences and sympathies to the family and
colleagues of Dickson Ssentongo," CPJ's East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes said.
"Authorities must do their utmost to ensure the perpetrators are brought to
justice, especially at this politically sensitive time in the lead-up to
national elections."

Presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take
place in February and March 2011.

The district police commander of Mukono, Musoni Alphonse,
said he dispatched a team of investigators to the area, local journalists told
CPJ. Police said they suspect the murderers had trailed Ssentongo and knew his
daily movements. His colleagues at Prime Radio said they believe the murder was
politically motivated since his personal belongings, including cell phone and
wallet, were not taken.

Ssentongo, 29, had worked as Lugandan news presenter for
Prime Radio for two years and a part-time court assessor for the Mukono High
Court, local journalists told CPJ. Politically active, Ssentongo was an
aspiring councilor for Nantabulirirwa Parish at GgomaSub-County
on the ticket of the Democratic Party. Although Prime Radio primarily deals
with social issues, Ssentongo would promote the parties' political activities
on the radio whenever he could, Kiwanuka told CPJ. "He was unmarried and
passionate about politics," he said. "We fear he may have died for what he
loved."

On Saturday, motorcycle taxi drivers beat freelance
journalist Paul
Kiggundu to death while he filmed them demolishing a house in southwest Uganda.
Police have not yet arrested any suspects, local journalists told CPJ.